Van Der Graaf Generator - 5.1 mixes coming in 2021. It's happening!!

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Dang it. This sorta feels like one should buy this now or the window will close fast. I'm not that familiar with these guys. Decisions, decisions...
 
Snood got me Van Der Graafs from Burning Shed today, buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut - all was fine except Snood PAWN HEARTS came completely unsealed no seal at all......all 3 of the others were sealed with hype sticker. The discs seem ok, but their was a lil bit in black ink imperfection on one of the inside fold outs. :unsure::confused::unsure:

Anyone else receive any Van Ders this way?? Is this the way all PAWN HEARTS showed up?? Doubt it :unsure:

I emailed their support to send me a new one instead of a used one and since when did they start selling used as new? A lil confused and not upset, but yeah :confused: Does not show good on that company - might have to start shopping elsewhere. Will see how they respond.

So first reply from Burning Shed was - we only sell new and not used, manufacturing must have messed up - can you send us pictures of the cd/dvd set the way if came......I replied well I can but just picture the set with no cellophane at all and that is what it looks like :unsure:, if ya still want pictures I will send them.

Different person replied - we will send you out a new one. They did not ask for the old one back and if the new one comes without any asking or postage for sending the old one back then I figure I can run a contest on here and give away the unplayed open one here on QQ with a contest. :LB
 
Ordered from JPC (the four separate DVDs, not the big box) on Sep. 14th. They arrived today, 7 days later. Starting to wonder why I ever buy from anyone else!
 
My 4 DVD individual discs arrived 2 days ago, only I'm so busy traveling with work.....they sit unwrapped. On a side note, my wife said USPS delivered them on the edge of our porch, and the box sat in the rain for over 3 hours! Luckily, the content inside the box was unharmed. WTF!!! Why would they not place the box (it was fairly small) up against the house, or better yet, open the outside door and place between outside door and locked door????
 
My 4 DVD individual discs arrived 2 days ago, only I'm so busy traveling with work.....they sit unwrapped. On a side note, my wife said USPS delivered them on the edge of our porch, and the box sat in the rain for over 3 hours! Luckily, the content inside the box was unharmed. WTF!!! Why would they not place the box (it was fairly small) up against the house, or better yet, open the outside door and place between outside door and locked door????
I had that happen a week ago with amazon, they didn't (or more likely couldn't be bothered to) open the porch door, it was only in the rain for a short while, but it was a book!
 
Finally received mine last Friday up here in Norway. This has been an exceptionally slow year for surround, at least for me. Not that much which has interested me, but this was an instant purchase. I am not closely familiar with VdGG, I only have the 4CD «The Box» from 2000. I really liked it, but didn’t get too deep into it. Interestingly I bought that right at the same time as a Magazine compilation CD, so I always associated those two bands. It really makes sense in my head - perhaps the «punkiest» prog band and the «proggiest» punk band (actually post punk to be precise), both fronted by singers with a theatrical delivery and dark lyrics. At the time Magazine hit me the hardest (still love those albums with McGeoch on guitar), but I am ripe for a VdGG rediscovery.

This package is great and for the price I paid not a bad deal at all even though there is some format overlap as is the new standard these days. In my car I only listen on CD and I went straight for Godbluff. Loving it.

Then today I was going to delve deep into the surround and visual material, but I can’t get a single Blu-Ray disc to work in my player (Cambridge Audio BD650, some 10-12 years old). The player’s display says it’s on the top menu, but I only get a dark screen on the visual material disc with some pointers barely visible. I can navigate the ponters to different areas on the screen and pressmto make it play those scenes, but then I only get the sound and no picture. On the surround discs I can’t even get the pointers, just a black screen. This is the first time I can’t get a disc to play in this player. I have never updated anything on it, but this sucks big time. I will have to see if there’s some update available, but it appears others have had similar problems. Be forewarned. Will report back.
 
Finally received mine last Friday up here in Norway. This has been an exceptionally slow year for surround, at least for me. Not that much which has interested me, but this was an instant purchase. I am not closely familiar with VdGG, I only have the 4CD «The Box» from 2000. I really liked it, but didn’t get too deep into it. Interestingly I bought that right at the same time as a Magazine compilation CD, so I always associated those two bands. It really makes sense in my head - perhaps the «punkiest» prog band and the «proggiest» punk band (actually post punk to be precise), both fronted by singers with a theatrical delivery and dark lyrics. At the time Magazine hit me the hardest (still love those albums with McGeoch on guitar), but I am ripe for a VdGG rediscovery.

This package is great and for the price I paid not a bad deal at all even though there is some format overlap as is the new standard these days. In my car I only listen on CD and I went straight for Godbluff. Loving it.

Then today I was going to delve deep into the surround and visual material, but I can’t get a single Blu-Ray disc to work in my player (Cambridge Audio BD650, some 10-12 years old). The player’s display says it’s on the top menu, but I only get a dark screen on the visual material disc with some pointers barely visible. I can navigate the ponters to different areas on the screen and pressmto make it play those scenes, but then I only get the sound and no picture. On the surround discs I can’t even get the pointers, just a black screen. This is the first time I can’t get a disc to play in this player. I have never updated anything on it, but this sucks big time. I will have to see if there’s some update available, but it appears others have had similar problems. Be forewarned. Will report back.
I have a cambridge around the same age and have no problems. I keep mine up to date, so yes, try that. Good luck.
 
In deciding between the separate CD/DVDs and the box with Blu-rays, what's the difference in the sound of the surround mixes? Apologies if I missed this, but is the DVD a compressed DTS version and the Blu-ray the uncompressed DTS-HD version?

Has anyone compared to determine if the compression is discernible?

On ImportCDs or DeepDiscount it works out to be about a $80 premium for the box.
 
Ordered from Amazon Germany 3 days ago. On my doorstep in NY thus morning. Impressive. Music Vaultz hasn't even responded to my request for cancellation email from 3 days ago yet
 
In deciding between the separate CD/DVDs and the box with Blu-rays, what's the difference in the sound of the surround mixes? Apologies if I missed this, but is the DVD a compressed DTS version and the Blu-ray the uncompressed DTS-HD version?

Has anyone compared to determine if the compression is discernible?

On ImportCDs or DeepDiscount it works out to be about a $80 premium for the box.

The DVDs have a compressed DTS version while the Blu-Ray is lossless.
The difference is slight, audible when you can compare the material back to back, but you would probably not notice on its own, unless you have a trained ear for the compression artefacts of the DTS.
Some equipment might be better at resolving the difference.
YMMV.
 
DVD Menu reads as follows:

96/24 Stereo LPCM
DTS 96/24 5.1 Surround
Dolby AC3 5.1 Surround

Don't know if the sound difference is worth the difference in price from just buying the 4 DVDs standalone. You do get more with the box set, obviously, so if you're a big VDGG fan, the box is probably worth it. If you just want to hear the surround mixes (which are fantastic), probably best to go with the DVDs.
 
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